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'Son of Saul' Searches for Humanity During the Holocaust

Son of Saul Press Kit
/
Mongrel Media

Son of Saul tells a harrowing Holocaust story like you’ve never seen before. The movie follows Saul Auslander, a Hungarian that is part of a group of isolated Jewish prisoners forced to assist the Nazis in their large-scale extermination. 

While working in one of the crematoriums, Saul discovers the body of a boy he takes for his son, and it becomes his mission to find a rabbi to help give the boy a proper burial amidst the daily turmoil of the camp.

The film is also this year’s Oscar winner for best foreign film.

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"The film set entirely in a death camp, unlike Schindler's List," says film contributor Dave Lurhssen. "This movie doesn't let you out."

The tight, over-the-shoulder camera work of the film along with the portrayal of working prisoners trying to navigate their survival in the film offers a new perspective completely distinct from other Holocaust films. "It's very much about moral choices under extremely restricted circumstances," says Luhrssen.

Audrey is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.